"General, send more troops..."

Seeing that the troops' offensive was once again repulsed, an officer in the German command pleaded with Falkingham. Next to him, some of the other officers also looked at Falkingham.

Hitting a wall in front of a group of Chinese was an absolute humiliation for these proud Germans.

"As long as I come a few more times, I will definitely be able to take down this position!"

"No," he said with a telescope looking at the situation on the battlefield again, and Fa Jinhan almost gritted his teeth. Let them withdraw it. ”

He saw the situation on the battlefield very clearly just now, and knew in his heart that no matter how much he attacked, it would be impossible to break through the firepower circle formed by the expeditionary force.

Of course, he did not think about whether to let the artillery support it. After all, the artillery group in his hand at this moment has a great advantage in the face of Verdun's defenders, and it would be a pity not to take advantage of it. But after a little thought, Falkingham gave up on this idea, because at this time the attacking troops were too close to the defense line, and if they were not careful, the shells could fall on their own heads...

"The most important thing now is not to increase the number of troops, but to reorganize the attack, otherwise even if we can occupy the position, the casualties will be unimaginable..." Next, I will bombard the entire position with shells, so that these Chinese know what the cost of participating in a war of this magnitude..."

"Yes!" Hearing Falkingham's words, the officers in the command said in unison.

And Crown Prince William, who was standing on the sidelines and watching coldly, knew what Fakingham would do. Because he had just witnessed the attack that lasted for several hours with Falkingham, and he had witnessed the scene of the attacking troops falling in front of the defenders' circle of fire, so many casualties that Fakingham even made Falkingham so large. To the point where he felt pain in his own flesh.

At the same time, Crown Prince William is also calculating today's casualties in his heart.

"About five thousand people," thought Crown Prince William, with some pain. More than 5,000 people, which is already equivalent to the strength of two regiments.

Over the course of the day, the Germans may not have suffered 5,000 casualties, but the Germans captured at least 3,000 French soldiers in at least the first three lines of defense. The few casualties created such a brilliant achievement, but in front of the rearmost line of defense, they were hit by a bloody outlet. It's no wonder that the two of them feel pain. However, when the attacking forces withdrew and the casualty reports were counted, Falkingham and Crown Prince Wilhelm were stunned by the casualty reports that had been presented.

Because the casualty report that came up was not 5,000 at all. It was 8,000 men, and the number of dead was as high as 4,000, and the troops that had just joined the attack were only more than 20,000.

In other words, the day is down. The number of casualties amounted to a third of the attacking forces.

Looking at the casualty report in his hand. Fa Jinhan's heart was dripping with blood, and at the same time, he hated the expeditionary force in his heart.

And by Falkingham's side, Crown Prince William felt distressed at the same time, but also looked deeply in the direction of Verdun.

"It seems that these Chinese are not as useless as rumored..."

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Just as Falkingham and Crown Prince William received reports of casualties, Xia Fei in the French General Headquarters also received reports from Cai Ye and Leonard.

In the report, the defenders in charge of the fourth line of defense, namely the Dumont and Suville batteries, achieved at least 7,000 enemy casualties. Of course. Its own losses are not small, as many as 4,000 people...

Most of these were under German shelling. On the contrary, the casualties during the attack were very small.

Although the German attack was very brave, with only more than 20,000 attacking troops, it was impossible to break through the fire circle composed of thousands of machine guns—————— which was still Cai Ye did not bring all the machine guns up, otherwise the German casualties would probably be even greater.

As for the more than 7,000 casualties, although both Leonard and Liu Guangyuan and others felt that the number could be increased slightly, Cai Ye still informed Xia Fei of a more conservative number...

Of course, Leonard did not forget to mention this in his telegram to Xia Fei afterwards, and thought that in the defensive battle at this point, at least 10,000 German soldiers were killed and wounded, which was a great victory.

When he first received this telegram, neither Xia Fei nor the other generals in the General Headquarters were in disbelief. However, they can not believe Cai's words, and they can't still not believe Leonard's words.

For Leonard, Xia Fei still knows a lot.

Although he is not a decent soldier, at least he will never joke about this. He didn't bother to get some lies that would be debunked at once, so after reading the telegram from Cai Ye and Leonard, Xia Fei basically believed the content of the above.

"It seems that we, the Chinese allies from the Far East, are much more capable than we thought...", Xia Fei said to his subordinates with a smile after taking a sip of coffee.

After reading the contents of the telegram, these generals, who were still anxious, also relaxed a lot.

"If the Chinese can fight the next war as well as this time every time, I believe that there should be no sleepiness after three days..." Glancing at what was in his hand, the general continued after thinking about it. Then there is the question of reinforcements......... Although the Chinese did a good job this time, their disadvantage compared to the Germans is still too great..."

Hearing the general's words, Xia Fei groaned. "Indeed..."

"And then there's—" Glancing at Xia Fei hesitantly, the general continued. When reinforcements arrive in Verdun, will it be possible to replace the Chinese troops from Verdun......... It's still too ......... for them to shoulder this burden alone And I heard that their General Cai seems to have suffered from tuberculosis in the past, and even now he is not in good health, for the sake of his body, maybe we should lighten his burden..."

As soon as these words were spoken, Xia Fei was already frowning.

However, the other generals and colonels in the headquarters all looked at it. It seems to be very concerned about this matter.

Not surprisingly, it was a great honour to hold Verdun.

Cai and the Chinese Expeditionary Force held Verdun. Of course, they were grateful, but it was not them who were the heroes who defended Verdun, but a group of Chinese......... To them, this seems a little out of place...

Therefore, the words of the general just now can be said to be very in line with the thoughts of everyone present.

Judging from the telegrams of Cai Ye and Leonard, the expeditionary force will not have much problem holding out until the arrival of reinforcements. Case. Simply replace the expeditionary force with reinforcements, otherwise if the glory of holding Verdun falls on the Chinese, what will they have face ...

Come to think of it. All of a sudden, the generals in the headquarters all looked at Xia Fei.

————————————————————

Noticing the expressions of his subordinates, Xia Fei frowned slightly.

Although the battle was not over yet, Xia Fei was disgusted by the fact that he remembered his merits. But Xia Fei had to admit it. If it were him, I'm afraid he would have thought the same.

It's just that they just threw them aside after using them, and this kind of thing of crossing the river and demolishing the bridge is a bit unauthentic after all. Moreover, Cai Ye and his Chinese Expeditionary Force were not his colonial troops, and it was impossible for him to be left to his mercy, especially since the French government had reached an agreement with the Chinese government that as long as the expeditionary force had a good record on the front line, the expeditionary force could obtain the same status as Britain and France on the Western Front.

Now the expeditionary force only held out in Verdun for one day, but it held Verdun under superior German artillery fire. And the record of killing and wounding nearly 10,000 enemy soldiers in one day is a record that can be taken no matter where it is placed. Even if Xia Fei refuses to recognize the achievements of the expeditionary force, I am afraid that the public will not buy it...

If you fall out with the expeditionary force after the worst time, it will be a lot of trouble...

Thinking of this, Xia Fei took a deep breath and spoke.

"Anyway, you also know from Leonard's report that the defenders of Verdun lost three lines of defense in one day, and it was the Chinese who held there, maybe they did need to be replaced, but not now, so let's talk about this matter later, now those Chinese need our support more..."

Although there are many people in the French Army who look at Xia Fei unpleasantly, he is the commander-in-chief of the French Army after all. It is impossible for the people present to brazenly and directly propose to snatch the credit of the Chinese, so under Xia Fei's proposal, they can only be silent.

Seeing that everyone had acquiesced to what he said, Xia Fei nodded, and then looked at one of the generals of subjective logistics.

"How long will it take for Petain's Second Army to reach Verdun, and the supplies that Cai needs the most...", Xia Fei chuckled after speaking. We can't snatch the accolades that Chinese have won, but ......... It's okay to share a little..."

Hearing Xia Fei speak in such a brisk tone, the generals in the headquarters also chuckled.

But after the chuckle, Xia Fei quickly switched to a very serious tone.

"The key is the issue of materials, Cai said very clearly on the telegram, they did not have trucks when they were in Saint-Menord, in order to get to Verdun as soon as possible, they only carried a small amount of ammunition, if we can't replenish the ammunition immediately, I'm afraid they will only use bayonets to fight the Germans, so I wonder how long it will take us to send the ammunition that the Chinese need..."

"It's complicated," the general said. At present, the road connecting us with Verdun has been almost completely cut off, and only one road is left, Bal-Dijk-Verdun is still open, and we have organized a large number of trucks to transport urgently needed supplies and soldiers on the front line. The general took a breath before continuing. As for the soldiers, it will take some time to prepare, but the supplies needed for the front line can be transferred from tomorrow, and the maximum volume can be transported within a week..."

At this time, no one knew the road, and the Bal-Dijk-Verdun road in the general's mouth was called the 'Holy Road' in the history of the First World War. After the outbreak of the Battle of Verdun, the French army used the Baledique-Verdun road, the only way to maintain contact with the rear, to continuously transfer troops and supplies to Verdun, organizing 3,900 trucks to transport 190,000 personnel and 25,000 tons of supplies within a week. This was the first large-scale automobile transport in the history of the war. A large number of French reinforcements were put into battle in time to strengthen the defense in depth. It had a significant impact on the course of the campaign, and the road became known as the 'Holy Road'.

Not sure how important the road was in the general's mouth, Xia Fei nodded. And I didn't go on and on.

————————————————————

While Xia Fei was still discussing, in Verdun, Cai Ye and the others felt pain for the casualties counted, and on the other hand, they were also proud of the results they had obtained.

After all, with the Germans having superior firepower and troops, they got a remarkable result. This is all the more striking when you consider that the French had lost three lines in a row the day before.

Inside the fortress of Verdun today, almost every Frenchman is impressed by these Allied forces from the Far East.

But actually. Cai Yi: They also have headaches. This is the ammunition issue that Xia Fei and they discussed before, in order to reach Verdun as soon as possible, Cai Ye and the others only carried a very small amount of ammunition. In ordinary battles, they might be able to hold out for a while with these ammunition, but Verdun's battle seemed to be much more fierce than Cai Yi and the others imagined.

As one of the leading fortresses in France, the Fort de Verdun naturally also stockpiled a large amount of ammunition. However, the ammunition here is used by M1915 rifles. The Mauser Type 1904 rifles equipped by the expeditionary forces were simply not usable. Want to replace the rifles of the French, and they don't have so many guns to replace ...

As mentioned earlier, if there is not enough ammunition reinforcements to come up, then they may have to fight the Germans with bayonets.

Fortunately, after Cai Ye transmitted the news to the French General Headquarters, there was a reply from there very quickly. The telegram said that they had already begun to prepare the logistics and that they would be sending supplies to Verdun starting tomorrow, and Cai did not think that the French would joke on this issue. So to not worry about it...

"General Leonard..."The riding boots on his feet 'snapped' in the cement fortress, and Cai Ye looked at Leonard Dao. The Germans had just hit their heads in front of the line and broke the blood. I'm afraid it won't be here anytime soon, our men are not very familiar with the fortress, and I hope you can spare some of your men, but our men will set up some of the defensive line, so that by the time the Germans launch the next attack, our casualties may be reduced..."

At this time, Leonard did not dare to despise these Chinese in front of him for half a day, and after hearing Cai Gong's words, Leonard suddenly nodded. "Your Excellency Commander, please rest assured, I will send someone..."

Cai nodded slightly, then turned around to deal with other matters, such as the transfer of wounded soldiers to the rear.

Although the expeditionary force had killed or wounded at least 7,000 or 8,000 enemy troops in the previous defensive battles, the expeditionary force itself had suffered as many as 4,000 casualties, many of which were seriously wounded and could even be life-threatening if not treated immediately.

Cai is known for his love for his soldiers, and naturally it is impossible to allow this to happen.

However, while Cai Ye was doing the aftermath work there, one of Cai Ye's staff officers also came over with a telegram.

"Commander, this is sent by the president from China..." When the word 'president' was mentioned, the staff officer's face was full of joy.

If he respects Cai Ye very much, then he is completely reverent and even longing for Yan Shao...

Although Yan Shao usually sends telegrams here, and when the troops first set off, they sent several copies in a row, but this one in his hand at this time is obviously more of special significance...

Receiving the telegram from the staff officer's hand, Cai Yi took it in his hand and looked at it, and did not show the same excited expression as the staff officer, but read it and said slowly to everyone in the headquarters.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is a congratulatory message sent by the President from China, congratulating us on our victory in the first battle at Verdun, and hoping that we can continue to fight hard here for the cause of the Entente and for the interests of China..."

Hearing that Yan Shao actually sent a congratulatory telegram from China, everyone in the headquarters suddenly became excited. In contrast, Cai Yi's mood is much calmer. In fact, on the telegram, in addition to the above paragraph, there is another paragraph after the most lu, but this paragraph was sent specifically to Cai Yi, so Cai Yi did not read it.

In the back, Yan Shao said to Cai Ye that although their victory in Verdun had not been long in coming, it had already spread throughout the world. The impact of this victory was even more significant, and some people have now called Cai and the expeditionary force the 'heroes of Verdun'. As far as Yan Shao knows, the Paris side has prepared a medal that is enough to crush Cai Ye to death, and when the Battle of Verdun is over, they will let Cai Ye go to Paris, and then find a way to crush this 'hero of Verdun' to death with the medal...

He was not interested in the medals, and if he could, at this stage he would prefer to exchange them for mortar shells.

At the same time, Cai Ye also felt a little helpless about Yan Shao's official words above. However, he did not dare to throw the telegram aside, but carefully put it away.

What happened next seemed to be similar to what Yan Shao expected, and not long after Yan Shao's telegram arrived, a large number of telegrams had already arrived. Most of the above content is to celebrate Cai Ye's victory at Verdun, and the rest is simpler, which is to let Cai Ye find a way to hold Verdun until the subsequent reinforcements arrive in position.

However, what made Cai Yi strange was that the French did not take this opportunity to replace him, but still retained his title of 'Verdun Regional Commander', which was beyond his expectations.

He had thought that when the reinforcements arrived, the French would let him 'retire'...

Now it seems...

"Do these French people still seem to be more kind...", I don't know what the proposal once appeared in Xia Fei, looking at the expeditionary officers and soldiers who were busy on the defense line, Cai Ye exhaled.

His next task is also very simple, just hold Verdun (to be continued......